Education space at Cambridge Better facilities, better access, better experiences 22 November, 2017 Professor Graham Virgo, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education

Overview Education space at Cambridge – a vision Current challenges Work underway Programme Board for Education Next steps

1. Education space at Cambridge – a vision

1. Education space at Cambridge – a vision High quality education spaces Help attract the brightest students, create positive experiences Support new approaches to learning and discovery Encourage better and more efficient use of space

2. Current challenges

2. Current challenges Resources Capital investment is rising – £144.5m spent on estate development in 2015/16 Demand for capital investment is very high – at least £3bn costed in to the University’s capital plan We must make more efficient use of existing assets, including education space Cambridge has the lowest teaching space utilisation rate in the UK HE sector S

2. Current challenges Operational Our lecture theatres could accommodate the whole undergraduate body simultaneously, but There is a continual challenge in distributing teaching and examination activities across the estate, especially since postgraduate students need to be accommodated too Redevelopment and refurbishment responds to academic needs but adds to pressures on available space We lack the scheduling data and modelling tools to ensure our estate supports current and future educational requirements S

2. Current challenges Design and condition 76 per cent of students say the quality of campus facilities is an important factor in choosing where to study* But there are many low-quality spaces across the University – from whole sites to internal facilities e.g. Sidgwick site lecture block These spaces do not inspire or encourage the kinds of interactions we need to maintain our global competitiveness * Higher Education Design Quality Forum Research, 2013 S

2. Current challenges User experiences Many Faculties and Departments struggle to access spaces needed for teaching, learning and examinations Some graduate students do not have dedicated work spaces The University does not have a single system for discovering and booking rooms across the estate S

3. Work underway

3. Work underway Across Schools and institutions Significant work led by Schools, and across Faculties and Departments For example, re-imagining research and teaching infrastructure across sites (Biological Sciences, Arts and Humanities/Humanities and Social Sciences) Detailed research into users’ experiences of study environments (Futurelib at the UL) S

4. The Programme Board for Education Space Remit Promote, and facilitate progress towards, the University’s vision for education space Report progress to the General Board Capture data to model academic needs with the management and development of the estate Now oversees work of the Room Booking Project Board S

4. The Programme Board for Education Space Remit continued Produce performance specifications for improving the quality of education space Prepare improvement plans where appropriate Develop guidance for using teaching space more efficiently Develop compelling, user-focused systems to manage room-booking and scheduling across the University Encourage a culture of sharing educational spaces S

5. Next steps and further information Academic year 2017/18 Develop a comprehensive understanding of education (numbers, aspirations, constraints) across all Schools Design/test scheduling and modelling tool to match educational needs with available space Produce/test a set of minimum standards for education space Raise awareness, communicate, seek feedback across Schools (programme of administrator meetings set up) S

5. Next steps and further information www.educationspace.cam.ac.uk Graham – click link at the end of the presentation to go through to the website